The Dream Road was the title to a book of paintings and stories that I completed just before the turn of the century. The title was taken from an Australian aboriginal tale about a coming-of-age journey of discovery. Dreams or more accurately "dreamtime" are extremely important to the culture of the aborigine. This quote from The Last Wave, a film by Peter Wier explains it a little more:
"Aboriginals believe in two forms of time; two parallel streams of activity. One is the daily objective activity, the other is an infinite spiritual cycle called the "dreamtime", more real than reality itself. Whatever happens in the dreamtime establishes the values, symbols, and laws of Aboriginal society. It was believed that some people of unusual spiritual powers had contact with the dreamtime."
The Wikipedia entry on Dreamtime is fascinating to read. The Northern Territory homelands of the aborigine and its people are at risk from the Australian government that continues to marginalize their culture. This is happening right now and you can find out more at GetUp!
..
No comments:
Post a Comment